Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Pale straw color and transparent. Frothy white head with decent retention and some lace patches.

Clean aroma of grains, corn and rice. Nothing special.

Malt character is present but minimal and slightly stale. Corn husk and a bland rice-like quality. Old yeast gives it a dirty flavor. Weak herbal, grassy hop barely adds a touch of bitterness. Aftertaste is sour and unpleasant.

Light-bodied and lots of bubbles. Very standard for an adjunct lager. Crisp, dry finish.

Not very drinkable due to the unpleasant flavors. Overall, I was disappointed with this beer. When I saw it in the store, I had no idea it was a Bud product, but it explains the adjunct flavors very well. Over-priced at $7.00+ for a sixer. Not recommended. I would honestly prefer a Budweiser. (766 characters)

From bottle at St. Louis airport. Pours a yellowish golden color with a whitish head. Smell is very much of the adjunct, with little other attention. Taste is again very much of the adjunct and lacks in flavor. Feel is crisp with some oiliness in the finish. Overall not my first choice for an American Lager. (309 characters)

S: lemon and green apple fruitiness sticks out from the expected aroma of the style, though the smell of buttery corn on the cob and wheat are not far behind along with a faint caramel sweetness.

T: grainy caramel sweetness with a taste of sour lemon juice then flavors of corn finishes with lemon peel, a touch of bitter, peppery hops, and bread crust. leaves a long aftertaste of corn and more sour lemon juice, which really takes away from this beer.

M: medium full body with a sharp crisp mouthfeel which finishes dry

Overall, could be decent brew but is ruined by the excessive lemon juice flavors. I could see how it could appeal to those who put fruit in shitty beers to cover up the bad taste(i.e. Corona), but if it's a craft beer you're looking for, stray from this one.

Also, as a side note, This beer and the six pack both state that the "Hill Brewing Company" is located in Wilkes Barre, PA., however on the company's website it states that the beer was originally homebrewed by Ray Hill in St. Louis and mentions nothing of this town in PA, and that Mr. HIll later sold the recipe to AB who brews it at the AB brewery in STL. This is mentioned nowhere on the packaging. Quite sneaky on behalf of AB. Perhaps losing faith in their own brand. (1,339 characters)

It is a good looking beer. It has decent golden white head with tight bubbles. The lace is a little less impressive. The body is brass colored with lots of carbonation bubbles sticking to the side of the glass. The aroma is very malty with some clean hops tones. It has German like pils taste. It is grainy and earthy but mainly malty. It is light with some carbonation bite. Very clean and refreshing. (402 characters)

ok...yes, ok. i purchased this at a bar in KC. it is ok. pale straw color. decent carbonation and head yet it settled quickly. smells grainy and light. taste is like the smell. light. ok. nothing to write home about. no lace. little hop. a light lager that is like most macros. pilsner?

Closer to pale tangerine than amber. The ivory colored crown is whipped frothy, yet has enough substance to persist and to melt in appealing fashion. Blurry rings of lace keep the appearance comfortably above average.

The nose is a cut above the standard macro lager because it isn't the least bit offensive. Nor is it anything to get excited about. It's sweeter than the norm and is less muskily hoppy. I'm still onboard.

For what it is, this is actually okay beer. If you've often thought that macro lagers would be better if they were maltier and sweeter, then you'll probably agree. To me, due to the use of corn, American Pilsner tastes like a bulked-up Miller High Life.

The beer tastes more like an ale than a lager because of the (probably yeast-derived) esteriness of the less-than-clean flavor profile. That isn't a negative, by the way. Each upending of the glass delivers sugar-crusted cereal grains and sweetgrassy noble hops. The latter remain in the background, keeping things in relative balance throughout. Thankfully, warming doesn't result in the usual macro lager nastiness.

If a beer of this style is bigger than usual and is even close to appropriately carbonated, it gets a 'thumbs up' on the mouthfeel front. A light creaminess is a nice surprise.

For those who are unaware, Ray Hill is a homebrewer from St. Louis who managed to get his beer contract brewed by Anheuser-Busch. The irony is, American Pilsner is signficantly better than most of what the big boys produce. If the suits at A-B were smart, they'd buy Ray out and market this beer as the new and improved Budweiser. I'd buy it. (1,620 characters)

Poured from a bottle, not expecting much than a typical industrial beer.

Foamy head, maybe a bit darker in color than a BMC.

Smell is grains and some corn.

Taste actually had a hint of hops, not alot, but, yes, they are there. Finished clean, dry, and not offensive at all.

I actually liked the beer, might even keep a couple in the fridge for when I am just not in the mood for a heavier, or hoppier beer. WAY beeter than a BMC of any kind ( yes, I know it is a AB owned beer...) (485 characters)

Tastes corn and wheat. Carbonation sour and sting is more of a flavor than the hops. Hop bitter is hard to get ahold of, due to the strong carbonation. Dry finish leaves a mild gluten on the tongue. Quite clean and refreshing, would be good on a hot summer afternoon is my guess. Aftertaste is creamed corn and a nice hop flavor. Floral and metalic, like a hallertauer variant. Light body, but has a bit of dextrine thickness that hangs around. Very strong carbonation. (610 characters)

I liked this beer, call me simple or simple palleted, by I thought it was an easy drinking beer that I will buy more of. Of course it always helps when Ray Hill himself is pouring you beers for you! I had the pleasure of meeting the man at the KC Beer Fest this past weekend. (275 characters)

The liquor store owner was pushing this heavy, telling everyone the history of its maker and how its a "gateway" beer. I was intrigued by the story of the local homebrewer and his strive to put out a good product. I didn't need a gateway beer however but I will try anything.

A- Dark golden color, white foamy 1 finger head
S- Light sweet aroma, not much there
T- Malty with a touch of hops
M- Pretty light, with a little more body then typical lagers
D- Easy to drink, fairly smooth

Pretty boring to be honest, nothing to really note. It reminds me more of a golden summer ale then a pilsner lager. I guess the touch of hops is what pulls it away (for the better) from the lighter BMC's. AB produces this and its better then their other lagers, but not by much. (772 characters)

Never heard of this brewery, but read up on them from the website. Pretty nice looking site, but with mostly marketing-speak and little actual info on their beer.

This is the exact description as given there: "...[P]ours a golden yellow with a fluffy, airy white head. Slight hop aromas emanate from the lager, along with the sweet scent from the pale malts and corn. The Flavor has a clean mouthfeel that makes the beer very pleasurable." Huh? Stifling my giggles at all the unintentional humor in those few sentences, I poured to a pint glass and tasted...

A: Yep, golden yellow; actually a darker shade than the standard macro-lager. Perfectly clear and loaded with rising carbonation. Capped with 1/2-finger of fizzy white foam, lasting about a minute before setting to a lumpy cream. Minimal bits of sticking lace.

S: Grain and corn and sweet malts. A hint of candied sweetness; someone else mentioned 'malt liquor' in a review and I see a little resemblance. A bit of hop spiciness.

M: Starts with a gentle crispness and has a mellow velvety smoothness in general. Light in the mouth and body, moderate bittering behind those sweeter grains. A lingering spice on the tip of the tongue.

D: For a macro-lager/'American Pilsner', I found this pretty drinkable. Nothing complicated, easy to drink, reasonably good flavors and aroma and refreshing. Since I received this as an extra in a trade (thanks to James (jpm30)) I won't be finding this locally, but I might drink it again if it was. Reminded me of a NW beer like Henry Weinhard's - nothing too special, but a perfectly decent everyday beer. (1,781 characters)

I'm always excited to try a new pilsner, saw this at Gomer's in midtown and decided to give it a try. Pours a thin, pale straw color, looking very much like any generic macrolager. The dry, slightly fluffy head stays around for quite a while, receding to a slim crown but never completely disappearing. I can detect only faint barley malt aroma and virtually no hops, not really the level of hop love I was hoping for from a pils. The primary aroma is of slightly musty "basement corn"--not awful but not good and a little weird, this could almost pass for a cheap malt liquor.

Flavor is slightly better than the aroma, with some actual crackery, biscuity malts cutting through the corn syrup. There's only the tiniest touch of vaguely citrus hop character, but it is completely covered up. Very little in the way of notable bready yeast flavors. It tastes a lot like a cheap macro lager, leaving a slight lingering sweetness on the tongue.

Mouthfeel is predictably thin and fizzy. This is the kind of beer you could throw back a dozen of and not even notice you were drinking beer. Certainly it isn't a pilsner. Tastes basically like an AB Budweiser with corn instead of rice. Actually, I think I'd rather drink a Bud. (1,225 characters)

Pours a golden straw yellow color with a pure white head. Slight citrus scents as well as water and a mild hop note. tastes like a generic lager really, nothing outstanding or unique atleast not that i could tell, no bitterness, it is smooth but also watery, i'm sure i could drink plenty of these, but there are other lagers out there that i'd pick first, but i'm not a huge lager fan though. (393 characters)

Thin in the mouth, losing much of the complexity of the nose. Here we're reduced to an almost macro-ish slightly sour malt. Finish is decent length, but I'm not crazy about the flavor. No evidence of the hops that the nose promised.

Mouthfeel is slightly fizzy. Too highly carbonated and corn-y to rank high on drinkability for this taster. Reminds me of adjunct days Michelob (have not retasted it since it went all malt), but with a better nose. (759 characters)